It's Only Rock and Roll
by IrvingZissman
Summary: COMPLETED Punk Rocket is on the loose and way more powerful than he was before. Can the Titans stop the Rebel without a Clue? And how does Red X fit in to this mess? BBRae, slight RobStar, CyGirls in general
1. Come on Feel Da Noize

So this one takes place a week or so after my previous story "The Smell of Victory" I hope you likey! PS – If you're curious what a Flying V guitar looks like, just go wikipedia and search for 'Flying V' and click the first result.

* * *

It had been about a week or so since Raven and Beast Boy had started dating. Raven was still trying to adjust the idea of having a boyfriend for the first time in her life (she refused to count Malchior) and finding the concept to be rather enjoyable. 

This particular morning was a sunny day in Jump City. It was Starfire's turn to do the grocery shopping, with Robin tagging along to make sure she didn't come back with 30 bottles of mustard. Beast Boy was in his old bedroom packing his possessions up to be moved into Raven's room, and Cyborg and Raven were on the couch in the Ops room.

Cyborg had always been sort of an older brother to Raven, as he was someone she could look up to and be there in times when she had no one else to talk with. She sat next to Cyborg who was playing GameStation 720 on-line as she sipped her herbal tea. It was fresh out of the pot, hot to the point where it singed your lips and back of your throat ever so slightly, which is just the way she liked it.

"Ya know, I gotta say, you and BB to make a cute couple." Cyborg offered, his eyes still calculated on the action on screen. Raven took another sip of her hot tea before replying

"Thank you, Cyborg. I have to admit, I never thought I'd see myself winding up with a guy like Gar. He's not at all what I thought I wanted."

Back in the gaming world, Cyborg just nailed his on-line combatant with a **TRIPLE BLITZ WAVE BLAST** giving the metal man a perfect victory. "BOO YAH! Take that JTODD from Gotham City!" he declared triumphantly, pumping his fist. He plopped back down on the couch before resuming talking to Raven.

"One thing I've learned, Rae-Rae, is that in life there's a huge difference between what we _want_ and what we _NEED_, and you need BB just as much as he needs you."

Raven smiled at this statement, enjoying the confirmation that she was making the right decision with Beast Boy, though her thoughts were interrupted quickly by her communicator beeping. Flipping it open she was greeted with Robin, his brow furrowed, his voice tense and commanding.

"Titans, we've got trouble downtown! Get here now!" and with that, cut off the signal. Raven just groaned having wanted to spend the day with Beast Boy, but Cyborg was giddy like a kid in a candy store.

"Aww yeah! Now this is what I'm talkin' about! Been forever since we got to dish out a good ol' fashioned butt whuppin'! Rae-Rae, get grass stain and meet me in the garage, we'll take the T-Car." and with that was off to get his baby revved up.

Raven pulled up her hood as she hurriedly made her way to Beast Boy's old bedroom and soon as she had arrived she opened the door without bothering to knock.

Scattered around on the floor were large cardboard boxes with labels such as "STUFF", "MORE STUFF" and "COMICS." On top of one of the many boxes was Beast Boy's over sized boom box, the volume low enough so no one outside the room could hear it, but high enough so he could enjoy it.

At first, Raven could not recognize the song, due to the fact she didn't listen to much pop music, but she remembered hearing the tune from one of the many times Starfire had control of the television..

...Beast Boy was listening to _Britney Spears_.

His back was turned to her, so he didn't realize she was watching him as he gleefully attempted to mimic Britney's dance moves, singing loudly in a horribly off-key voice. Raven felt an all too familiar smirk spread on her face, as she spoke.

"You know, you look a lot cuter on TV, Britney." her arms crossed over her chest as she leaned against the side of his door. Beast Boy nearly jumped a foot in the air, squealing loudly, before wheeling around to confront her.

"Raven!" he exclaimed loudly "What are you doing here?" Raven's smirk had now spread to a broad smile as she had Beast Boy exactly where she wanted him.

"I came for the concert." she said flatly, "But it looks like I'm too late." Beast Boy's eyes grew wide as he stammered desperately to find an excuse at his choice of music. Sensing his desperation, Raven took pity on him, saying "I promise I won't tell anyone, ok? Especially Cyborg."

Beast Boy nodded and tightly hugged Raven, pulling her close to him. She didn't mind the hug, just kind of surprised he was that embarrassed over his musical tastes. Their moment was interrupted, however, by the beeping of Raven's communicator, flipping it open to see an irritated Cyborg.

"Yo, you guys makin' out or something? Get your butts down here now!" and with that, the two Titans made their way to the garage.

They arrived at the coordinates Robin had sent them, right in the middle of downtown Jump City in front of Angry Ted's CD Store. Cyborg could see Starfire hurriedly tossing starbolts at a target, causing a huge mess of flying debris and smoke.

When the chaos cleared, Cyborg, Raven and BB laid eyes on who had been the source of all of this...Punk Rocket He seemed to have surrounded himself in a sonic shield so the starbolts did little, if anything at all.

"Ah well, look at that right there!" the hard rocking villain snarled, "We gots ourselves three more blokes for the concert, eh? Well then, let's rock this bloody house!" And from his back, produced a solid black Flying V electric guitar.

Sneering a bit, he suddenly let loose an intense solo, the sound waves shattering nearby windows and sending Robin and Starfire flying back into Cyborg's car, with Starfire being slammed right in through the windshield. "

Ah shucks, poor lass couldn't take the music, eh?" he taunted. "Crying shame."

Robin gathered his senses and glanced over at Starfire, seeing her body covered with thousands of tiny, deep cuts due to the glass. Sensing his despair, Raven shouted "She'll be fine. I can heal her, but I need time. Keep him busy!" and the Boy Wonder didn't have to be told twice.

Now filled with rage, he extended his bo staff and charged head first into battle. "How bloody sweet!" Punk Rocket further taunted "Bloke is all willy nilly over his lady, eh? Touching!"

With a loud "**Hyaaaaaa**!" Robin swung the metal bo staff straight for Punk Rocket's head, only to have Punk Rocket send him flying back with another sonic blast from the guitar. Robin flew back and crashed his into a nearby dumpster, grunting as the wind was knocked out of him.

"You like sound, little man?" Cyborg threatened "Then listen to this!" and with that fired a concentrated sonic blast of his own straight for the angry punk. Punk Rocket merely chuckled before swinging the guitar like a baseball bat, smacking the sonic blast right back at him.

"Uh-oh..." was all Cyborg had to say before the reflected sonic destruction caught him square in the chest, sending him flying through several buildings. "Nice try Mr. Roboto, ya wanker." Punk Rocket added.

By this point Raven had fully healed Starfire who was now attending to an unconscious Robin. "It's my turn." the empath said, a voice as dark and forbidding as her powers. "AZARATH METRION ZINTHOS!" and several cars, dumpsters and light poles all became illuminated in black. With merely a wave of the sorceresses' hand the items hurled themselves at Punk Rocket.

"Oh oh oh! Lil' Blackbird thinks she can rock with the big boys, eh?" before falling to his knees to unleash a furious solo, the sound wave reducing the items to mere harmless fragments.

"My turn!" Beast Boy commanded, morphing himself into a snarling T-Rex. "Didn't ya know that Dinosaur Jr. broke up, lad?" Punk Rocket said laughing to himself. Beast Boy responded with a mighty roar and swung his tail at the rock and roll rebel, who merely jumped over the large appendage.

"Eh, nice try guvnah! Think it's time to call this gig to an end, eh? Don't worry none, they'll be an encore!" he said mockingly, before jumping on his guitar and flying away at a warp speed, disappearing into a speck in the distance.

Starfire helped Robin to his feet, as he shook his head trying to regain himself. "Are you ok, beloved?" she asked. Robin nodded with a faint smile on his face seeing Starfire. "Yeah, thanks hun." he said.

The leader of the Titans surveyed the carnage before him, sighing as he realized their defeat. "Is everyone alright?" he asked. "Where's Cyborg?" Cyborg slowly shuffled his way back to the group, various sparks emanating from his cybernetic body. "I'm here..." he said quietly.

"How did Punk Rocket get so much power?" Raven asked incredulously.

Robin merely shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know, but I do know we were no match from him today. He defeated us easily, but right now there's not much we can do. Cyborg is need of repair and we all could use a could rest. Cyborg, think you can handle the T-Car?"

Cyborg grinned as he replied "With my eyes closed!" and with that Robin hopped on his motorcycle, Starfire clutching on to him as they sped off.

Beast Boy was surprised. "Whoa dude, that's so not like Robin. Usually he'd tell us that we need to train more and how unprepared we were." Cyborg merely shrugged.

"It's 'cause of Star. All he wants to do is spend time with her now, since he's domesticated. You'll find out, I'm sure."

"I heard that." came Raven's icy cool reply. Beast Boy giggled softly to himself, as he opened the T-Car passenger door for Raven. "Thanks Gar." she said smiling.

Cyborg responded by making a whip cracking sound, but stopped when Raven's eyes flashed white...it was at this point that Cyborg noticed the damage to his car.

"Aw man! I gotta buy a new windshield now..." he moaned and with that drove off, heading back to the Tower.


	2. Silent Lucidity

So you guys like this story eh? Good, I hope so. It has a bit more action that 'Smell of Victory' or 'The Mall of Shopping', so I hope you like this next chapter. Less action, more character development.

* * *

Raven sighed to herself as she lay in bed later that night. Beast Boy was out cold next to her, snoring away in his own little dream world. She smiled softly as she watched him sleep, stroking her hands through his hair, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead. The events from earlier in the day kept running through her mind..."How did Punk Rocket, of all people, suddenly get elevated to Slade-like status?" Too many thoughts were being recycled in the pale empath's brain and sighing deeply to herself, she fetched her robe from across the room with her powers. She needed time to think.

The moon illuminated the roof of Titans Tower in a beautiful blue after glow. Raven was on her way to the roof to meditate when saw a large silhouette standing in the moonlight. "Cyborg..." she said quietly to herself.

Cyborg looked out into Jump City Bay, watching the moonlight dance and reflect off the water's glass like surface. Feeling a presence next to him, he glanced over to see Raven standing adjacent to him in her bathrobe, sipping a cup of tea. "Can't sleep?" she asked, looking out into the water. "Yeah..." he said softly. There was a moment of silence between the two, till Cyborg finally spoke up.

"What happened today?" he asked, still not making eye contact with her.

"We lost, Cyborg. Plain and simple." Raven was always renowned for her bluntness. "It happens." Cyborg smirked slightly. "Somehow I get the feeling that you're not as cool with it as you let on" he said. Raven smirked herself...he could always call her bluffs. "My concerns are the same as yours. How did Punk Rocket get so powerful? None of us could stop him."

Cyborg merely shrugged. "I dunno. But I don't like the look of it, even with Slade we could get some hits in, but Punk Rocket completely schooled us. Plain and simple." he said, sighing to himself.

"Nobody is invincible. We beat Trigon, we beat the The Brain, we can beat him. He has a weakness, Cyborg. We just need to figure it out." the Azarathian said.

"Always the logical one, huh?"

"Somebody has to be in this Tower." she said monotone, sipping her still very hot tea. Cyborg smiled at a typical Raven statement. "So where's BB?" he inquired, curious where her green beau had run off to. "He's sleeping...and snoring" she said, taking another sip of tea. Cyborg chuckled to himself picturing an annoyed Raven trying to sleep next to a loudly snoring Beast Boy. "Man, I don't know if I should congratulate you or give you a medal of bravery for dating him."

Raven felt a smile creep on the corners of her mouth. "Shakespeare put it best when he wrote '_The true course of love never did run smooth_' and I tend to agree. There are times when he can be annoying, but..." she paused searching for the right words "...but Gar..._completes_ me. He pushes me to do things and _feel_ things I normally wouldn't do or feel. We're two halves of the same whole."

Cyborg stretched his arms and yawned, checking the power read out on his arm. "Well little lady, looks like I'm down to just 9 juice here for the night...think I'm gonna plug myself in and retire for the night. Besides, you probably wanna get back there and get yourself some green luvin'" he said with a sly grin.

Raven merely rolled her eyes. "I'll tell you exactly what I told Gar...consider my body a map of the world. His hands stay on the equator. No going south of the border and no going north of the border to the polar ice caps." Cyborg burst out laughing, slapping his metallic knee causing a loud CLANG to echo throughout the empty halls of Titans Tower as they made their way back in. "Oh man..." he said wiping a tear from his eye "BB has to be luvin' that."

The brother and sister Titans stood outside of her room, both of them saying their goodbyes for the night.

"Night Rae-Rae"

"Goodnight Cyborg" she said and made her way into her room, closing the door behind her. She slid off her robe, revealing her black tank top and a pair of boxer shorts of Beast Boy's (which she double checked to make sure were clean) and slid herself in bed next to him, which woke the jade skinned prankster up. Beast Boy sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes seeing that Raven was just now attempting to go to sleep.

"Where...(yawn)..have you been?" he asked sleepily.

"Talking with Cyborg."

"Oh yeah? 'Bout what?" he asked.

"My polar ice caps." came her emotionless reply.

"Your...what?"

"Go to sleep, Gar." she said trying to hide the smile that wanted to spread on her face. Beast Boy just shrugged and curled up next to Raven, wrapping his arms around her slender waist as they both fell asleep together.

Morning came in Titans Tower, the smell of Cyborg's waffles floating through the air. Since Beast Boy moved in with Raven, he was never up early enough to get the jump start on breakfast, something Cyborg was eagerly going to exploit. Raven yawned as the sunlight kissed her delicate face, waking her up from her slumber. She could feel Beast Boy's breath on the back of her neck, a comforting, reassuring feeling.

She rolled out of bed and stretched her petite limbs, yawning again to herself. Beast Boy looked peaceful in his sleep, so she had no intention of waking him up. She fastened her robe on and grabbed a clean cloak and leotard, preparing herself for a well deserved hot shower. As she made her way down the hallway to the bathroom, her thoughts were cut through like a razor sharp knife in butter...

The lights flashed red, the siren beeped, meaning only one thing...trouble.

She sighed to herself making her way back to her room to change noticing Beast Boy was surprisingly awake and alert, just finishing zipping up his uniform. "Morning beautiful." he said before giving her a peck on the cheek. "See ya in Ops!" and with that was out the door.

Raven made it to Ops shortly on the heels of Beast Boy, the whole team dressed and wide awake as they could possibly be. "Titans, we've got trouble." Robin said authoritatively. Cyborg's face was grim with determination. "Is it Punk Rocket again?" the metal warrior asked.

"It is...but there's a catch." Robin added. "He's not alone. Red X is there with him."

"Red X?" said Raven in disbelief. "Since when is Red X in league with anybody?"

"That's the catch...they're not fighting together, they're fighting _each other_!" Robin said. "And we're going to go play riot control and break it up!"


	3. Sympathy for the Devil

"_...but when you reach the end, you won't like me anymore._" Timid Raven, "Nevermore"

* * *

"Hold still ya lil' bugger!" Punk Rocket sneered, sending another massive shock blast from his guitar towards Red X.

Red X merely did a handspring back flip, the blast missing him by inches. "So close, yet so far." the thief taunted. Having expertly dodged the shock wave, it instead crashed itself into a fire hydrant causing a geyser of city water to fill the street. Immediately, the master thief fired two small miniature red x's from the palm of his hands, but they found themselves instantly evaporated by the Flying V.

"And why can't you bloody sit still!" the evil rocker fumed.

"Not my style. Now let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? You have something of mine..."

"You ain't getting me guitar, you wanker!" and with that strummed a mighty chord causing a small earthquake making the pavement of downtown Jump City crumble in a tidal wave of asphalt. Red X expertly leap frogged it, and spring boarding off a wall attempted to spin kick Punk Rocket.

"You just don't give up do ya?" and with that swung his Flying V like a battle ax catching Red X in the midsection, sending him back straight into the arms of a just arriving Starfire. "Hey gorgeous." he said, not all that phased by the guitar shot to the solar plexus.

Starfire dropped him, causing him to hit the ground with an audible "Ommpffhh!"

"Nice to see you too.." he grumbled.

"Red X...long time, no see." Robin said, his voice heavy with a painful sarcasm.

"Aw bloody hell, if it ain't you do-gooding tossers, the flippin' Teen Titans! You know they wrote a song about you wankers...it's called LOSER!" and raising his guitar high in the air, Punk Rocket slammed into in the pavement sending another tsunami of concrete for the Titans and Red X.

"Titans, scatter!" Robin commanded. Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy and Raven took shelter in a nearby side alley, choosing to figure how to attack from there. Right across the street in another side alley was Robin and Red X, who needless to say, were not happy to see each other.

"Come to save the day again, Boy Scout?"

"Save it!" Robin said tensely. "What do you have against Punk Rocket?"

"Not one to waste time are we, kid? I'll make it quick and simple, that little brat over there stole something from me."

Robin smirked slightly to himself at the irony of Red X being stolen from. "And what's that?" the Boy Wonder asked.

"My xenothium supply. I don't know he did it, but he stole it from me and is using it to power that guitar of his."

Robin's eyes widened with horror at this. "So if that guitar cracks..."

"BOOM. No more Jump City." Red X said, finishing Robin's sentence. "I'm willing to call a truce for the time being. Not much to steal if we're all dead. Shake?"

Robin thought the offer over briefly before reaching out to shake the master thief's hand. "Deal. But as soon as Punk Rocket is brought to justice it's business as usual between us."

"I'd have it no other way, kid."

Robin flipped open his communicator as Punk Rocket was now loudly gloating about his skills as a master criminal, while just as loudly playing what appeared to be "Smoke on the Water" on his Flying V.

"Ugh...he's killing that song." Red X complained.

Robin was greeted by the face of Raven as he explained the strategy. "Titans, listen up! That guitar is being powered by xenothium."

"No!" Raven said stunned, thinking the danger of a complete xenothium meltdown had passed. Robin nodded grimly, enforcing the empath's fears. "We need to get that guitar from him, but we have to be careful not to damage it. Let me talk to Cyborg." he said as Raven handed her communicator to the cybernetic hero.

"Wassup?"

"Cyborg, on my mark let's hit him with with the brain freeze, got it?"

"Right on, man. Cyborg out."

"Brain freeze?" said Red X mockingly. Robin just smirked as he pulled a freeze disc from his utility belt. "Watch and learn." he said slyly "CYBORG, NOW!" he commanded and with that, the two Titans jumped out from their respective dwelling places and in one swift movement, Robin hurled a freeze disc straight at Punk Rocket.

Before Punk Rocket could even react, Cyborg aimed his sonic cannon right for the freeze disc causing it to explode in mid-air encasing the rebel without a clue in solid ice. The rest of the group slowly made their way out from hiding, safely inspecting from a distance to see if he had finally been beaten.

"Is he...frozen?" Starfire asked quietly, when suddenly a loud BOOM echoed throughout the many sky scrapers of downtown Jump City. Raven instantly threw up a shield to protect them from the flying ice chunk debris.

"Thought you'd freeze out ol' Punk Rocket, eh? Sorry wankers, but it looks like I'm a bit too hot blooded !" he said, laughing to himself. "Here's a song for ya, it's called HURT!" he said loudly before jumping in mid-air to flamboyantly thrash out another sonic attack...only this time nothing happened. The guitar let out a pathetic whimper and sputtered a bit, failing to unleash the fury as Rocket had hoped.

"Aw crud. Lost me mojo looks like." he said. "Ah well, live to fight another day than, eh?" and with saying that hopped on his guitar to zoom off in the distance, disappearing at a speed so fast that neither Starfire nor Raven had any attempt at catching him.

"We sure accomplished a lot there." Raven said dryly.

"Maybe we did after all..." Robin said rubbing his finger underneath his chin. "The intense cold seemed to cause the xenothium in the guitar to die out faster than it normally would. I'm willing to bet his warp away took whatever power he had left."

"Soo...uhhh, where could he get more of this xeno stuff?" said Beast Boy, still unsure of just what this stuff was.

"Wayne Tech Labs" Robin said grimly. "It's the only place on the entire west coast that has xenothium in stock and that's where he'll strike next. He'll probably hit the place up later tonight and when he does, we'll be ready for him."

"I suppose this means you'll be wanting my help..." said Red X. Raven narrowed her eyes in suspicion at this suggestion. "And how do we know we can trust you?"

Red X was blunt in his reply. "Simple. You can't. But at this point you don't have much of a choice, do you sister?"

"As much as I hate to admit, Red X is right. We're going to need his help if we hope to have chance of getting that guitar away from Punk Rocket." said Robin and with that, the Titans were off to plan their stake out at Wayne Tech.

* * *

Punk Rocket was nervous as he slowly tip toed through the shadowy halls of Wayne Tech Labs, the Flying V strapped to his back securely.

"Easy there Punk Rocket...keep it nice and cool like..."

He managed to stay in the shadows, dodging the cameras and laser trip wires with a relative ease, till finally he arrived at his destination, a large metal door that read "DANGER – XENOTHIUM STORAGE – AUTHORIZED PERSONAL ONLY" and with a smirk on his face, swung his now non-xenothium powered, yet still packing a bit of a punch, guitar into the door causing it to explode and shatter in thousands of tiny pieces.

"Heh heh...bloody easy, I tell ya." he murmured to himself, stepping over the debris into the storage room.

The room itself was a large metallic cavernous storage area, with smooth metal walls surrounding a small metallic box which contained several vials of xenothium. Enough to power his guitar for years! Only one catch hindered him, the fact that the box was surrounded by a large electrical field, pulsing and vibrating with a deadly charge. "Aw bloody hell..." he complained to himself.

"What's the matter? Having a bad day?" came a voice from the darkness. Robin's voice.

"TITANS GO!"

From the darkness came several starbolts flying towards Punk Rocket and since his guitar wasn't strong enough to deflect them, he twisted and contorted his body, barely dodging Starfire's alien strength.

Before Punk Rocket had any chance to regain himself, Cyborg came charging out of the darkness and with a loud battle cry fired a concentrated sonic blast right towards the rock and roller, causing Punk Rocket to get caught square in the chest.

"Ughmmppfffggghhhh..." he whimpered as his body soared to the other side of the room, crudely bouncing off the steel wall. Punk Rocket looked up dazed to see Red X, who taking the Flying V from Rocket, attached another miniature red x on the back of the weapon of musical destruction. The guitar sputtered and hissed, before cackling with a blue electricity, Red X dropping it on the floor before it exploded.

"Game. Set. Match" said the master thief.

Raven made her way towards the defeated punk, attempting to bind him in her powers till the authorities could arrive. Down, but not out, Punk Rocket grinned as the pale sorceress approached.

"Oh what's this then, eh? Lil' Blackbird thinks she's gonna apprehend me and all that rubbish? Bloody hell! I still got a feel tricks up me sleeve!" and with that threw exploding guitar picks towards the empath. Raven froze in her tracks, knowing she didn't have enough time to chant her mantra to stop them due to how close he was.

Suddenly, she felt somebody push her out of the way, causing her slender frame to hit the ground hard. She looked up just in time to see Beast Boy standing where she was, the guitar picks exploding upon impact.

Beast Boy wheezed loudly as he felt his suit burn away, the picks burning his chest. The concussion force of the blast sent the changeling flying back...right into the electrical field. He twitched, convulsed and screamed with mind sheering pain till finally the field's circuits over loaded and Beast Boy collapsed on the floor, smoke trails emanating from his body.

"**BEAST BOY!**" Raven screamed, running over to her fallen love. Crouching down, she delicately lifted Beast Boy's head on her lap, his skin puffy and burnt. She could feel the stinging tears build in her eyes, as she stroked what remained of his green hair.

"Gar..." she said quietly "Please...hang in there. Don't leave me."

Red X reached down to grab Punk Rocket, lifting him up off his feet in the air. "What did you do to him!" the master thief bellowed, his normally calm voice furious in it's anger.

"Oh toss off ya wanker! So the lil' bastard took the stairway to heaven a bit premature like. Big flippin' deafhfhfgggjj.." he was cut off by Red X swiftly punching him in the midsection, before slapping a pair of specially designed red x handcuffs on him to restrain him.

Raven's tears meanwhile streamed down her face in a gentle cascade, splashing on Beast Boy's charred skin. Cyborg crouched over him, scanning with with some sort of attachment, monitoring the results on his wrist read out.

"He's alive..." Cyborg announced. "...but barely. He's fading fast, we need to get him back to the tower."

"That won't be necessarily." replied Raven, her voice cracking. Placing her hands on Beast Boy's forehead, she closed her eyes and chanted her mantra.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

"Is...she healing him?" Starfire asked, her own gentle face soaked with tears. Robin just shook his head, unable to speak or say anything at the current moment.

"Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos...Azarath Metrion Zinthos..."

She kept chanting till suddenly, bright white light emanated from Raven's mouth, eyes and chakra jewel, her back arching as her body lurched as if she were in great discomfort. From this light came Raven's soul self, a black silhouette of her composed of her powers and her very own soul.

The soul self left Raven's body and flew directly into Beast Boy's.

Once her soul self was completely in Beast Boy's body, she passed out on the floor in a heap. Starfire burst into hysterics and began crying harder, thinking Raven had taken her life out of the despair of losing Beast Boy.

Cyborg scanned Raven with the same scanner he used on Beast Boy. His face turned grim as he read of the results. "She's alive, but not by much. Her heart is barely beating at this point. We need to stabilize her and pronto"

"Ugghh...w-wha...what happened..." said Beast Boy groggily sitting up, his body back as if nothing had ever happened "and why is my uniform so tore up?" He looked around the room at the carnage and destruction the battle with Punk Rocket had caused...and then he saw Raven.

"**RAVEN!**" he wailed loudly, rushing to her side. "What happened to you?" he cried, his own eyes filling with bitter tears. Cyborg placed a reassuring hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. "You were hurt...bad. She healed you somehow but it seemed to take a lot out of her. We may lose her, so we need to get moving back to the Tower and fast."

Beast Boy nodded before morphing into a large gorilla, gently cradling Raven in his arms. The police sirens could be heard loudly in the background, as the cops were on the way to get Punk Rocket. Robin turned to thank Red X, but he was gone. The xenothium still in place, unstolen.

"I promise I'll take care of you..." Beast Boy thought. "I'm not going to lose you. Hold on, Raven. Hold on for me."


	4. Live and Let Die

How does Robin's mask make his eyes disappear?

* * *

The cold rain poured outside Titans Tower, casting the normal sunny Jump City in a dark and gray environment that matched Beast Boy's mood perfectly. For the past week he rarely left Raven's bed side in the medical room. He had removed her cloak which now hung on a nearby coat rack as she was just clad in a hospital gown, Starfire having removed Raven's leotard.

Raven had various wires connected to her, monitoring such things as her heart beat, blood pressure, oxygen levels and the like. Though in the entire week she had been comatose, her body never actually touched the bed. Instead she merely levitated off it by a foot or so, her arms nearly at her side. Cyborg would stop in every hour to check her vitals, which were odd to say the least. Her body was in perfect physical condition, but her vitals were slow and weak.

Beast Boy sighed to himself, running his hands through her silken violet hair. He'd just spend all day in there looking at her, never leaving, rarely eating, just watching her.

"I don't know if you can hear me Raven...but I miss you bad. It's lonely here without you. I...I try to keep myself busy with GameStation...Cyborg even let me win a couple of times, though he'll never admit it. I...I just wanted to let you know that I love you and I'm waiting for you..." his voice trailed off as he broke down and dissolved into tears, sobbing uncontrollably into his arms.

He sat there and cried his bitter tears, till he felt a hand on his shoulder. It wasn't the cold metal of Cyborg or the firm glove of Robin, but rather a soft, gentle feminine hand that he knew could only be Starfire's.

She sat down next to him, as she made her way up to the base of his neck, slowly massaging it. She knew it was pleasing to Robin when he was stressed and she hoped it would have the same effect for Beast Boy.

"How are you feeling?"

Beast Boy sniffed slightly and just shook his head, his vocal chords failing to function.

Starfire nodded her head in a gentle understanding."I can see you are still grieving for friend Raven." she spoke quietly, yet her voice tender and full of sympathy. Her soothing voice helped Beast Boy slowly compose himself, trying to dry his tears from his eyes.

"Yeah Star.." he said weakly. "I miss her."

Starfire nodded sympathetically, still massaging the base of his neck. She sat there in total silence for several minutes with him, the only sound being the soft beeping of the machines hooked up to the Azarathian girl. She didn't know if she could say anything to help Beast Boy with his suffering, but she hoped just having someone else in the room with him might help.

Eventually Robin made his way in and stood behind Starfire, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. She smiled up at him, as he leaned down to kiss her delicately on the top of her head. She stood up and hugged Robin tightly, with the Boy Wonder stroking her back whispering "She'll be ok..." to her. One more kiss later and she floated off for a shower.

Robin sat down next to Beast Boy where Starfire had once been. Again, Beast Boy said nothing, continuing to stare at Raven while holding her slender hand.

"I saw that you finally beat Cyborg in GameStation today, huh? Guess hell finally froze over..." Robin joked, trying to keep the mood light.

Beast Boy didn't respond.

"You hungry? I think there's some extra tofu sausage left in the fridge..."

Beast Boy just silently shook his head no, wishing Robin were gone and Starfire were back. It's not that he didn't care for Robin, but his attempts to keep the mood light were failing miserably and were cutting the changeling like a knife.

"So...how ya feeling? Any better?" he asked.

"How do you think?" the broken hearted young man replied, starting to get annoyed..

Robin cringed realizing his poor choice of words and scanned his brain to keep the conversation going at any level, but failing miserably. He was never good at this type of thing.

"Beast Boy...I...I understand what you're going through." he finally said, looking straight ahead at a blank wall. Beast Boy stroked Raven's hand and with his voice heavy with a bitter sarcasm spoke "Oh right, the heartache you had when Slade left?"

Robin's face stayed expressionless, though inside he felt like he had been stabbed straight in the heart.

"No..." he said quietly. "Beast Boy, I lost my parents in an accident when I was younger." he spoke softly with a blunt, unflinching delivery. "And...I wanted to let you know if you need anything, I'm here for you. I know the hurt you're feeling."

Beast Boy's ears sagged a bit as he realized what a jerk he had been to Robin. "Dude...I'm...sorry I said that. I've just been so whacked out lately..." Robin just shook his head merely raising his hand to silence Beast Boy.

"Beast Boy, it's ok...you're hurting. I understand."

"Thanks, dude..." the changeling said quietly, glad to have been forgiven. Robin gave a bit of a half smile finally getting that off his chest, when the all too familiar buzzing of the alert siren pierced the air. Robin's smile faded quickly into his normal stern look of determination and with a flip of his communicator, contacted Cyborg for the source of the alert.

"Cyborg, what's wrong?"

"It's Punk Rocket...he busted out of jail and is holding the entire Jump City Orchestra hostage down at Drake Theater. He's got a new guitar now, one that isn't powered by xenothium, but has more gadgets and doodads then you're utility belt."

Robin frowned..

"Hostages? How many? What are his demands?"

"About 13 or so of em' and you ain't never gonna believe this," said Cyborg "but the dude wants a 5 album contract, a personal jet, a deluxe tour bus AND a world tour..and something else..." he added his voice trailing off slightly.

"Something else? A merchandising deal?"

"Not exactly...he...uhhh...wants Starfire as one his groupies."

"WHAT! No way that's going to happen! Where are you at now?"

"Star and I are in the garage waiting for ya."

Robin nodded grimly and flipped his communicator shut, attempting to run out of the room. As he was going, though, Beast Boy stopped him by grabbing on to his cape.

"Robin, wait...I want to go too."

* * *

Drake Theater was in ruins. Half the seats were destroyed, the stage was smashed to splinters, the instruments had been thrashed and it looked like a war zone had torn through the area. Punk Rocket paced back and forth on what was left of the stage, clearly looking annoyed with the members of the Jump City Orchestra, who had been tied to their chairs with special adamantium laced guitar strings.

"Alright, now I'm only gonna ask ya bloody tossers once and once only, who is the greatest flippin' rocker in the entire world?" the rebel without a clue asked, having not even bothered to change out of his bright orange prison jump suit.

"P-Please...sir, I don't listen to the 'rock and roll' music..." the frightened conductor stammered "I just listen to classical, that's all." Punk Rocket scowled in obvious disapproval.

"Every single one of you tossers is starting to make me brain hurt..." he screamed, mockingly rubbing his temples.

"Funny, your music does the same thing to me." came the all too familiar voice of Robin.

"You again? Didn't learn ya lesson from last time? BUZZ OFF!"

"'Fraid that's not gonna happen, little man." Cyborg offered, his sonic cannon armed and ready. "This time we're shutting you down for good!"

"Yes," said Starfire joining in. "you are a terrible man and your music is the suck."

"Oh really now? Apparently you blokes didn't learn ya lesson with Lil' Blackbird did ya now?"

Beast Boy grit his teeth, his fists tightly clenched. "Her name is Raven..."

"Oh is that Lil' Blackbird's name? Raven, eh? Well lad, I gots a name for her real proper like...WORMFOOD!"

Beast Boy hollered in an intense rage, morphing into the beast he had become when he fought Adonis, and with a mighty roar swung his razor sharp claws. The knife like nails sliced through the hair, the tips tearing claw marks in Punk Rocket's jumpsuit as the criminal made a desperate lunge back.

"Blimey mate, she's just a girlie girl, ya know? No use losing your bloody head over it!" he sneered, getting the brand new Flying V II from behind his back. "Ya know, they say music soothes the savage beat, eh? Well let's test that theory out!"

Beast Boy roared loudly as he blindly charged towards the smirking rocker, who with a mere push of a button produced two adamantium guitar strings to fly out of the guitar, dancing and weaving in the air like a snake under hypnotic suggestion.

"You lil' snots feel like messing with me and me guitar, eh? **WELL WE'RE NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE**!" and suddenly the two guitar strings lashed out at Beast Boy as Punk Rocket controlled them with the whammy bar on his Flying V II ax. One of the strings shot forward and wrapped around Beast Boy's ankle, tripping the massive beast to the ground.

Beast Boy growled with irritation at the set back and attempted to cut through the thin string with his claws, but finding little success.

"Ha, feelin' a bit foot loose, eh? You can try and tear em' up if ya like, but you'll find that's adamantium and as any science nerd will tell ya, ya can't break the stuff!" the rocker taunted..

"TITANS GO!" and the remaining three Titans were off into battle. Seeing one of the guitar strings zooming for him, Robin somersaulted high into the air and at the peak of his jump hurled a birdarang at it, pinning it to the wooden floor.

"What's this all about then, eh? Nice try Bird Boy!" Punk Rocket said and with a flip of a switch, the string disconnected itself from the guitar, a new one now wildly swung in the air in it's place. Beast Boy meanwhile was struggling to get back to his feet, clawing viciously at the adamantium guitar string,

"Starfire! Help free Beast Boy!" Robin ordered, hoping that Punk Rocket was bluffing about the strings being adamantium.

The Tammaranian Princess flew towards her friend who had now morphed back into his human form to see if that would lessen the grip a bit, but as if it had a mind of it it's own the string merely tightened itself. "Fear not, friend." Starfire said sweetly "For I have to come to aid you."

"Hurry and get this thing off of me, Star! I'm going to tear Punk Rocket apart!"

Starfire nodded eagerly and grabbing a hold of a section of string began to tug it, using all of her fierce alien strength she could muster, but it would not tear. She yanked and pulled, stretched it over her knee, even attempted to use her teeth, but the string would not budge the slightest. Punk Rocket saw this and with a leering eye, sent the second string towards Starfire. Sneaking up behind her, the string wrapped itself around her waist and arms and making the surprised crimson haired beauty "EEEK!" at being caught off guard.

"STARFIRE!" Beast Boy shouted, but to no avail. The string returned itself to it's master, it's green eyed prize struggling, but tightly wrapped in the guitar string. "Ah well now, we do we have here, eh?" he said with his voice a lecherous whisper. He stroked the back of his hand across her soft cheek, the tall alien girl wincing as if she had been struck hard. "Eh now luv, don't be shy...I don't bite...hard."

"You shall not get away with this! Robin and Cyborg shall come to my assistance!"

"Oh you mean these two little buggers?" he said with a sneer. Starfire glanced over and to her horror saw Robin pinned to the wall with razor sharp guitar picks, struggling in vain to free himself. Cyborg meanwhile had wound up with a digital guitar pick on his back that had hacked into his system, broadcasting Swedish death metal at ear piercing volumes. "Make...it...STOP!" he screamed, clutching his head in agony.

Starfire's jaw dropped with shock, returning her attentions to the leering Punk Rocket.

"And now luv, the moment I've been waitin' for...let's see what's under the outfit of yours, shall we?" and reached his hand towards Starfire, his eyes gleaming with perverse delight.

"The only thing you shall see is this!" the Tammaranian Princess shouted and blasted Punk Rocket dead on with her eyebolts, sending him through a flimsy wooden wall into the dressing room. As the punk rocker's body crashed through, he dropped the Flying V II, causing the strings wrapped around Starfire's body and Beast Boy's ankle to go limp.

"Dude, sweet! I'm free!" and Beast Boy was off to rescue Robin and get the hacking guitar pick off of Cyborg. Starfire meanwhile had charged two fully powered starbolts as she stood outside the wreckage of the dressing room, waiting for Punk Rocket to emerge. She didn't have to wait long, as the staggered punk stumbled over the wreckage, aiming his wrist mounted explosive guitar pick launcher at her.

"Alright you lil' wench, time for y'all to piss offugghhfffhhh..."

Punk Rocket had barely enough time to utter the phrase "piss off" before Red X returned, teleporting to the punk's left hand side and connecting with a vicious round house kick that left Punk Rock staggering back in a daze. Following his attack up, Red X teleported behind him with a leg sweep that sent the rocker crashing to the ground as the master thief teleported into thin air.

The rebel without a clue slowly made his way to his feet, dazed and sore. "C'MON THEN YOU BASTARD!" he hollered loudly, the Titans and the still captive orchestra watching.

"If you insist..." came Red X's voice before appearing out of thin air behind Punk Rocket and connecting with a spin kick that sent the rocker flying into what remained of the audience chairs.

"Damn that felt good." he said to himself.

"I see you got a fresh supply of xenothium. How'd you get it?" Robin asked, but already knowing the answer.

"Same way I always get things. You didn't think I was going to leave the xenothium alone, did you?" the thief replied bluntly.

Robin smirked slightly. "Playing the hero again, huh?"

"Don't get your hopes up, kid, I'm not joining the Teen Boy Scouts any time soon. What I just did was payback for stealing my belt. Now if you excuse me..." he said as he went to pick up the Flying V II to destroy it.

**BZZZZZTTTTTTTT!**

The guitar crackled electricity causing Red X to yelp as he instinctively jerked his hand back. Punk Rocket, bruised and battered, slowly stood up from where he was laying and wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth, grinning madly.

"Hehehe...surprised ya didn't it? It's programmed to recognize me fingerprints and no one else's!" before raising his arm, his palm open. The guitar shook slightly and then flew across the room at a blinding speed right into Punk Rocket's outstretched hand. "Ain't she a beaut?" he offered, barely able to stand on his feet.

"And now you wankers are gonna get my farewell tour performance!" he laughed insanely, adjusting a knob on the Flying V II all the way to the right. "THIS BABY GOES TO 11!" he wailed "You bastards ready to rock!"

"_Not yet_." came a voice cold enough to freeze out the sun.

_It was Raven's voice._

Up from the floor in a sudden wave of black energy emerged Raven, clad in her leotard and cloak, her hood hiding most of her face with the exception for two glowing white eyes.

"You hurt me and you hurt my friends. _No more_."


	5. You Got Another Thing Comin'

Thanks to everyone's comments! You guys are gonna give me a big ego, ya know that? **NOTE**: _For 10,000 cool points, who can tell me the artists behind the songs that served as my chapter names?_

* * *

Punk Rocket sneered wildly, a steady trickle of blood coming down his chin, his eyes wide with insanity, his mouth stretched out to show his crooked yellow hued teeth twisted in a manic grin.

"So Lil' Blackbird is back, eh? Well piss off ya gothic wench!" he screeched, aiming the now super charged Flying V II at the empath.

Raven, for her part, never lost her cool. Her solid white eyes merely stared back at Punk Rocket, their unblinking nature revealing the seriousness and gravity of the situation at hand. Punk Rocket, still grinning madly, strummed a mighty chord on Flying V II causing a powerful sonic wave to shriek it's way towards Raven at breakneck speed.

The young sorceresses instantly raised up her hands causing a large solid black wall of her dark energy to form between her and the sonic blast, and with a loud BOOM! the two opposing energies collided fiercely. Raven grit her teeth putting all she had into keeping the shield intact, the other Titans still in shock at her sudden reappearance.

"Eh then, what's this? Wanna play who's stronger? Fine then, lass!"

Punk Rocket fell to his knees in an over dramatic display of rock and roll, wildly strumming his guitar, the sound waves intensifying at an alarming rate. Yet Raven still hung in there, her arms completely outstretched giving it every last drop she could muster.

The struggle continued on for a minute or so, the forces locked in a dead head with no clear advantage. This annoyed Punk Rocket, clearly insulted that she wasn't a fan of his music and dared to go toe to toe with a living legend such as himself.

"What's the matter Lil' Blackbird? Getting' tired now are we?" he taunted, trying to get under Raven's skin and make her lose focus. Raven felt a slight smirk on her face as she coolly replied "Only getting sick of hearing your music."

The Rebel Without A Clue flew into a rage and began to intensify his guitar strumming, the noise of his "music" growing more intense and more powerful, it's sheer raw aggression slowly pushing Raven back on the stage causing her to lose ground.

"Oh what a shame now, isn't it? Lil' Blackbird can't fight the rock now can she?" he teased. Raven grit her teeth harder, her voice low and foreboding. "You will not win!" Punk Rocket chuckled softly to himself. "Is that a fact now, eh? I seem to be doing a bloody good job of winning don't cha think?"

Raven strained and drained every last drop of her powers she could find within herself to fight the increasing threat, but his guitar was just too powerful. Her muscles were starting to ache, her vision was going blurry, her head starting to spin as the fight was draining her...she felt like she could pass out at any minute, yet she still fought. In reality, she should still be back in the medical ward of Titans Tower, as she hadn't fully regained her strength yet.

But she knew she had to fight. She fought for Starfire for taking the time to get to know her, regardless of how annoyed Raven may get...she fought for Cyborg who was like the older brother she never had...she fought for Robin who believed in her when she didn't...she fought for Beast Boy...

Beast Boy.

Two simple words that echoed in her mind. Beast. Boy.

Suddenly the pain in her limbs seemed like a distant memory at thought of Garfield Logan. Her face, which was once taut with pain and aggression, now seemed to completely relax, her grunting and teeth gritting having come to a complete stop. She felt relaxed, calm, her mind no longer stressed over the energy battle with Punk Rocket.

"Azarath...Metrion...ZINTHOS!"

Upon reaching Zinthos the pale Azarthian's voice became thunderous as it echoed throughout the tattered theater. The wall of black energy she had cast up to protect her and her friends (and Red X) from Punk Rocket abruptly morphed into a large, screeching black raven. It shot out at the now confused punk, slamming him hard against a concrete wall at the far end of the theater.

Punk Rocket collapsed in a heap, landing on all fours. He was barely able to lift his head, coughing loudly as he tried to fill his lungs with as much air as possible. He gingerly lifted his head up to see Raven standing right in front him, her fists tightly clenched emanating her dark energy.

"Is...(cough)...that the best...ya got wanker?" he weakly managed to spit out.

Her face blank, Raven merely raised her hands in the air, causing a deep black raven's talon to emerge from ground, gripping the rocker tightly in it's grasp. Raven calmly let her hood down as the energy talon lowered herself so that they were looking eye to eye. His eyes confused and scared, her eyes solid white and expressionless.

"If you ever attempt to hurt me or my friends or anybody ever again..." she paused, collecting herself before she became too carried away. "...let's just hope for you sake you don't."

The empathic girl turned her back on Punk Rocket, waiting for the authorities to make their way inside who had been outside in the street this entire time. Though Punk Rocket wasn't done just yet...

"Yeah...well...you're still a bitch..." he wheezed.

Without even turning back to look at him, the dark talon flung the defeated rebel against the floor, finally knocking him out cold.

She stepped back on the stage, heading towards Beast Boy, but was cut off by Red X.

"My that's quite the display. Is that the only thing you can do with your powers?" he cooed, trying to sound as seductive as possible. Raven merely illuminated him with a flick of her wrist, casually removing him from her path.

"Sorry, but red isn't my color." and turning to face Beast Boy, a large smile on her face said "I'd much rather have green."

Robin made his way outside and gave the ok for the SWAT team to run in and apprehend Punk Rocket. Commissioner Young had assured the Titans that there was no way Punk Rocket would escape again, as he was being shipped to Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. Once there, he'd more than likely be heavily medicated to induce him to a near zombie like state.

As for the Flying V II, Cyborg easily picked it up, due to his lack of finger prints, and proceeded to smash it into thousands of tiny pieces.

And as for Red X? After Raven had let him down, he had a little discussion with Robin.

"So I suppose this means you're going try to arrest me now, huh kid?"

Robin merely smirked to himself. "I'm going to turn my back and count to 3. If by that time you're still here than yeah, I will try to arrest you."

Robin had barely uttered "one" when Red X teleported away.

"Uhhh Robin? You feeling ok?" offered Cyborg. Robin just smiled broadly "It's cool Cyborg. I owe him one, but just this once. Next time, it's business as usual..."

* * *

Later that day back in the Tower, the Titans were returning to life as it normally was. Starfire and Robin had left to go see a movie and Cyborg was in the garage endlessly tweaking the T-Car.

That just left Raven and Beast Boy who were on the couch back in the OPs room. Raven sat on the far side reading a new book of Azarathian love poems, while Beast Boy lay on his back his head resting comfortably in Raven's lap. She casually ran her free hand through his hair while the changeling read an issue of Highlights magazine, chucking to himself over the exploits of Goofus, as opposed to Gallant, whom he had a strong dislike for.

"Raven, I gotta tell ya something..." he said, putting his book down. Raven looked down at her beau, smiling softly. "And what's that?"

"Well, remember how you totally kicked Punk Rocket's butt earlier today?"

Raven nodded.

"Dude, that was totally hot! That was like...a major turn on." he said. Raven merely rolled her eyes, before feeling a slight half smile creep on her face.

"You're not going to need a cold shower are you?"

"Not unless you wanna join me..." he offered, half jokingly. Raven playfully swatted him on the head as a response, before returning her gaze to her book. A few minutes passed before Beast Boy said something again...

"Hey Rae..."

"No shower, Gar." she said flatly, still looking at her book.

"No, not that...I was wondering...how you'd bring me back to life?"

Raven paused before closing her book and putting it on the edge of the couch.

"It's called a 'Soul Transfer' and it's rarely used due to the risk of death from the person attempting it. When you were hurt by Punk Rocket, I could sense your life essence leaving you quickly. I'm sure Cyborg would have had you in the Tower at record speed, but it would have been too late."

"So...you gave me a copy of your soul?"

"Not a copy. I gave you almost my entire soul, restoring your life essence to what it was before the attack. I held on to just enough to keep me alive, till my body could restore itself."

Beast Boy scratched his head, digesting this information.

"So...like...does that mean I can make stuff all floaty like you do? And..." his voice suddenly stricken with horror "...will that mean I'm gonna drink tea?"

Raven smiled at his worry and placed a gentle, reassuring kiss on his forehead.

"No. But we do share a spiritual connection now. Here, sit up for a second..."

Beast Boy grudgingly sat up, not wanting to leave his perfect pillow, but did as told.

"Now," she said "close your eyes and guide your thoughts towards me. Let the whole rest of the world fade away and focus on me." Beast Boy nodded as focusing on her would not be a problem at all.

After a minute or two, he heard his beloved say "Now, open your eyes..." and he did. "Notice anything different?"

Beast Boy's jaw dropped.

"DUDE! I can read your thoughts! That's awesome! Ok, now you do me!" he said,his face grinning ear to ear. Raven closed her eyes and focused on Beast Boy before opening her violet orbs and cocking an eyebrow.

"Gar?"

"Yeah?"

"Forget it. Not happening." came her response after scanning his mind.

"Aw c'mon! You don't have to wear the thigh high boots if you don't want to!"

Without warning Raven lunged for Beast Boy, pulling his head close to hers as she kissed him deeply and passionately. Her hand stroked the back of his head as their tongues danced together wildly, the Azarthain holding nothing back.

She slowly pulled away, her amethyst eyes glistening with a desire that sent shivers down the young man's spine.

"Think that would hold you over?" she asked dryly. Beast Boy just nodded, his eyes wide, a slight dribble of drool coming down the corner of his mouth. "That...tha-that will do just fine..." he squeaked.

Raven smirked as she sat back on the couch and picked her up book. "Now if you excuse me Gar, I wish to finish my poetry."

"Yeah...y-you do that. I think...I think I'm gonna go take a cold shower now..."

**THE END**


End file.
